


All That is Left

by ImpyTricky (rychuu)



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Kind of Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Oumota, Panic Attacks, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates, kind of angst, oumasai, saimota, saiouma, shared pain soulmate au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-08 19:22:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20840714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rychuu/pseuds/ImpyTricky
Summary: Kokichi is afraid of fate and runs away from it… until he realizes that it’s all he has left.





	All That is Left

Kokichi noticed it when Kaito’s fist made contact with Shuichi’s face.

The way all three of them reacted, the way that his cheek suddenly stung like it had been him that Kaito had punched instead, it was a dead giveaway. It was so sudden and unexpected that he yelped quietly, but the commotion of the scene in front of him distracted everyone from it. As he rubbed his cheek, he saw Shuichi on the ground, eyes wide and tears flowing down his face in the wake of Kaede’s demise. Kaito hadn’t initially reacted, too emotional and full of grief that manifested into anger, and thus Kokichi only assumed that the connection was only between him and Shuichi.

That assumption changed when he snuck a glance at Kaito retreating into his room, rubbing the exact same spot on his cheek.

Kokichi didn’t know how to feel about it.

A few days later, he saw them smiling in the court yard. Blushing and giggling, he could only assume what that conversation was about. They had no idea, not a single clue that they were missing a third of their fate as they intertwined their hands together and Shuichi rested his head on Kaito’s shoulder.

They looked so sweet together. The thought made Kokichi feel sick.

It wasn’t easy to avoid them, Kokichi found. Kaito and Shuichi wore their fate on their faces in the form of their honest smiles, and more than happy to share it. Kokichi wondered if the happiness of finding a soulmate filled Shuichi with so much joy that he forgot about his grief.

It only made Kokichi’s heart fill with dread.

Days later, two more were dead and his life threatened, Kokichi found himself feeling even more bitter at the two that were supposed to be his soulmates.

How could they not have known after that?

Actually, Kokichi suspected they had a clue. Shuichi had been casting meaningful glances at him, thoughtful and stunning and frightening. His gaze made Kokichi feel naked, like he couldn’t hide a single thing. Kaito hadn’t been as eager to chase him when Kokichi baited him into it.

The day after, Kokichi overheard something else, something wickedly horrible when they spoke to one another thinking they were alone. It was the tail end of a conversation, but never the less, it was terribly revealing.

“When I was little, my soul mate was constantly getting hurt,” Shuichi had whispered. “Sometimes, it would feel so horrible that I couldn’t move…”

“That’s the same for me,” Kaito had admitted. “But, I thought… I thought that it was  _ you, _ and I didn’t want to ask about it–”

“–Kaito, I think… we have another soulmate. I think…”

Kokichi couldn’t stand to hear more, and he bolted out of the dining hall. Though from a distance, he could hear their cries of alarm upon realizing they hadn’t been alone.

The day after that, Kaito wouldn’t stop chasing him.

Kokichi normally loved the chasing game they played, but Kaito hadn’t been baited at all into it. Instead, he had exclaimed he wanted to talk about something, but Kokichi never gave him the chance. He ran, Kaito chased, and his heart pounded in his ears as he begged to a god he didn’t believe in to save him from whatever disaster Kaito wanted to unleash upon him.

That night, however, he was cornered.

Making a critical wrong turn down the hall, Kokichi had been too focused on Kaito to know what was in front of him, and he ended up crashing right into Shuichi, sending them both flying and down to the floor.

They both cried out, from pain and surprise, and Kokichi was stunned for a moment. A moment too much, as it finally gave Kaito the chance to catch up with him.

“G-good work, Shuichi, you caught ‘im,” Kaito panted, worn out from the chase.

“C-caught? Oh, right, you’ve been… I didn’t mean to…”

Kokichi tried to stand up to run away, but Kaito promptly wrapped his arms around him. “Oh no you  _ don’t! _ I ain’t gonna let you get away this time!”

Kokichi struggled and growled against Kaito’s hold, but the chase had worn him down just as much, and he gave into the inevitable. Slouching his body, Kokichi kept his head bowed, his bangs hiding his face with their shadow.

“Geez, what the hell? I just wanted to ask you something. You’re acting all weird.” He heard Kaito huff. After a moment, Kaito’s grip slackened. “You’ve been freaking out all day. What gives?”

Shuichi stared at him, and then blinked. “Ah, were you going to ask him about…?”

Kokichi didn’t give Shuichi a chance to finish his question. With Kaito’s grip slackened, he was able to break free from his arms with a sudden and vigorous struggle, and before long, he was running away at top speed.

That didn’t stop the sound of the others crying out his name from hitting his ears.

The next morning, Kokichi didn’t bother to leave his room. He couldn’t face them, not now, and not ever, and he decided skipping breakfast would be worth it.

It wasn’t.

“Hey, Kokichi, you in there?” Kaito, again with the insistence, pounded on his door. “C’mon, dude, open up. You can’t avoid us forever.”

Kokichi didn’t answer. Instead, he hid under his blanket, hoping the silence would drive them away.

It didn’t.

“Please, Kokichi, we… we just want to talk.” Shuichi tapped on the door as well, so gentle and sweet that it made Kokichi feel sick. “We… we already know you’re our soulmate, too. Please open the door.”

Kokichi didn’t move an inch. A part of him, maybe the childish part of him that longed for a soulmate, resurfaced and twisted his stomach into knots. He  _ wanted _ to, almost. Yes, no, maybe—it was confusing, how conflicting emotions stirred in his chest. He felt torn, afraid.

_ What good would it be to have a soulmate during a killing game? _

The words were bitter, reminding him what a terrible fate it was. To be paired up by a destiny he never asked for with not one, but  _ two  _ people he hadn’t met before in his entire life. How was he supposed to love, when his heart was shriveled and entirely barren?

Kokichi heard a soft sigh at the door. “Maybe we shouldn’t… bother him, about it.”

Those words ached his chest to hear. His heart felt like it would explode from the pain they brought.

“He’s probably just scared,” Kaito guessed. Kokichi wondered if Kaito knew how right he was. “We can’t just, leave him like this.”

“If he isn’t ready, then… he isn’t ready, Kaito.” Shuichi’s tone almost sounded scolding.

“But–”

Kokichi wasn’t sure what interrupted Kaito, but he could almost imagine it. Shuichi glaring at him, eyes intimidating and striking all at once, taking the words right from his throat.

Eventually, Kaito sighed as well. “… Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Then, after more muttering Kokichi couldn’t understand, he heard footsteps fading into the distance. His heart jumped into his throat. Kokichi thought he was going to be sick.

They hadn’t bothered him much about it after that, only giving him polite smiles and greetings. Though in their eyes there was hope, and then disappointment when Kokichi would dance around the subject of soulmates.

He still wasn’t ready.

Death came and took three more, and Kokichi felt more alone and afraid than ever before. With the stolen card key in one hand and an electrohammer in the other, Kokichi glanced at the card one last time with a faint smile.

Maybe, if he could get them all outside, he’d be less afraid.

…………..

………

……

…

That was such a naive dream.

The curse of the outside world, a secret never to be spoken, a pain only he could endure. Never in Kokichi’s life did he feel this truly alone, full of grief and no one beside him to quell it.

In his desperation, two faces came to mind. Faces that he needed to see, right in the flesh,  _ right now. _

The urgency was the only thing that made him move, tears still streaming down his face and shoes clanking on the metallic floor of the Death Road of Despair. Nothing, nothing, nothing. There was nothing, his mind repeated to him.

_ Nothing, nothing, nothing. _

As his feet carried him, he finally found them—Kaito and Shuichi, with an unfortunate Maki sitting beside them, about to witness him in his most vulnerable state.

The thought almost made him retreat away, and he almost did. Before he could, however, Maki’s eyes fell on him, and she sharply stood, glaring at him intensely.

“Wha—oh, hey, Kokichi!” Kaito called out, standing beside her. “Maki-Roll, it’s okay. He ain’t gonna hurt anyone. He’s just probably–”

Kaito was interrupted by Shuichi, who had been the last to stand up, and took Kaito’s sleeve into his hands. Yet his gaze was on Kokichi, his expression filled with concern, as he tugged on his sleeve. “… Kaito.”

With his attention drawn from Maki to Kokichi, Kaito’s expression twisted from something relaxed to something dreadful, and it made Kokichi want to run away all over again. Yet he was petrified, still as the stone that the ocean couldn’t even wither away.

After cautioning Maki to stay behind, both Kaito and Shuichi carefully made their way over to Kokichi, and each step made his heart pound even louder in his ears.

“Kokichi…?” Shuichi was the first to reach him, to reach a hand out to him, though unsure if the notion of touch was allowed. “Are… are you okay? Did something happen?”

“You look like hell,” Kaito remarked, a little less gentle in his approach. He didn’t reach out to him, but everything about his body language told Kokichi that if he was given even the slightest hint of consent, he would pull Kokichi into a hug. Something meant to be secure and comforting, he was sure, but something that felt more like a trap just waiting to be triggered. Enticing and terrifying all at once, and Kokichi didn’t know if he wanted to find out which it would be.

Swallowing dryly, Kokichi parted his lips to speak, but a strangled whine came out instead. There were no words. There was no explanation. A strong part of him felt the dire need to see them, but now that he had, he had no idea what he wanted or what he could do. Tell them the truth of the despair he saw? No, that felt all too cruel. They deserved to live ignorant.

Yet his tears wouldn’t stop, and his breathing had gone completely sputtered. He struggled for air, clenching the fabric of his jacket just above his chest as if it would relieve the pain and grief he felt.

Yet he still didn’t know what he wanted, or what to do.

Kokichi’s reaction was clearly scaring them, and it prompted Kaito to rest a hand on Kokichi’s arm. Gentle, warm, it didn’t at all feel like a trap. “Hey, what’s going on? What happened?”

Kokichi couldn’t answer.

Something about the contact made his petrifying fear melt, and he felt nothing but grief in its wake. With a harsh wheeze, Kokichi sobbed before he lunged forward, practically throwing himself at Kaito. As he sobbed and cried more, he felt entirely pathetic.

Kaito hesitated at first, but he gently wrapped his arms around Kokichi, and gently petted the hair on his head. “Hey, okay, you’re okay, it’s gonna be okay…”

What a fool. Kokichi only sobbed harder and louder before he shook his head.

“I’ve never… seen him like this,” Shuichi muttered, stepping in a little closer and gently wrapping his arms around them both. It almost felt like too much, but the warmth was comforting. “Do you think this has something to do with the card key…?”

Kokichi felt Kaito shrug, and Kokichi gripped onto Kaito’s shirt tighter. He gritted his teeth, trying to speak but only sobs were escaping. Everything was muffled by Kaito’s shirt, and he could feel it getting damp from all of his crying.

They didn’t know. They didn’t know, and he wasn’t so sure if he could ever bring himself to tell them.

They didn’t know that at the end of the world, they were all he had left to live for.


End file.
